“ We focus on purchasing from local and / or family-owned businesses wherever possible,” Lawhorn explains.“ Some of our favorite local partners are Vent Coffee, Wild Kombucha, Tortilleria Sinaloa and Lorena Latino Market. Seasonal produce also is a staple, along with eco-friendly and biodegradable packaging when available.”
The restaurant had to get a bit creative as our lives changed.“ In order to continue to provide the community with plant-based options during the shutdown, Friends and Family underwent renovations to install take-out windows,” Lawhorn says, noting that this update to offer service with limited contact allowed them to keep reaching the community during the height of the pandemic.
The practice of working with other vendors, including those that are local, is something that other Baltimore eateries do as well.
Take Good Neighbor, owned by husband-and-wife team Shawn Chopra and Anne Morgan. Chopra says their establishment— which offers coffee, including a vegan iced horchata de coco, along with classics like lattes, espresso and cappuccino— opened in May 2020, during the pandemic. A big step, but it was something that they’ d planned for after leaving a career in healthcare and saving for more than six years.
In addition to spotlighting four different coffee roasters, including Baltimore’ s Black
Acres Roastery( an artisan coffee roaster located in Highlandtown), Chopra and Morgan sell wares by local artisans and other creatives, including porcelain and bamboo tableware, along with marbled journals and other home decor.
“ The mission of Good Neighbor is to be that, a good neighbor. We really feel that Baltimore has a lot of amazing artists and makers,” Chopra says, revealing that customers have connected with each other via conversations, playdates and more.“ It’ s been great.”
Lawhorn offers a similar perspective on connection.“ As implied by our name, Friends and Family are the most important aspect of our decisions,” she explains.
The community-first business model extends beyond city limits for some restaurants. In March, Ekiben owners and co-founders Steve Chu and Ephrem Abebe drove to Vermont to cook a meal for a terminally ill customer. The Asian fusion restaurant has locations in Fell’ s Point and Hampden, and the customer in Vermont was craving Ekiben’ s tempura broccoli as one of her final meals. Her son-in-law emailed the owners and asked for the recipe, but Chu and Abebe didn’ t hesitate and responded that they would travel the six hours to make it for her.
“ We’ re just glad we could make her happy,” Chu told the Baltimore Sun.“ I think that’ s what hospitality is all about.”
These days, that kind of community appreciation extends to— and from— businesses across the region.
As Lawhorn explains:“ Baltimore is a beautiful city full of unique neighborhoods that each provide distinct character. To invest in Baltimore is to invest in a city of diverse residents who support and respect small businesses and their contributions to their communities.”
And today, thankfully, those relationships and contributions can continue. VB
TASTE
The Good Neighbor coffee shop, owned by Shawn Chopra and Anne Morgan( pictured at right), opened at the height of the pandemic.
28 BALTIMORE. ORG
RYAN RHODES
RACHEL PARAOAN